Leftovers

 Some mornings, Monster and Mouse eat better than my children do.

Cadence is appalled by this admission.






Speaking of food, Ezekiel brought me this meal. He'd cut up the cheese slice I'd made for sandwiches eons ago to make grated cheese for a baked potato. Ah, well. A true chef doesn't always follow the rules.

I think I must do this a lot, and I highly recommend it.  Twice the crossing off = twice the satisfaction for no extra work.

This picture makes me sad.  Half-wild Fruity, whom we met when we moved into this house and who is the most perfect cat, has disappeared after seven years of showing us What a Cat Should Be. Our Supreme Rabbit Huntress, a faithful mama many times over, and proud owner of nine lives, she has apparently used her last, and we mourn her.

The letter "b": breastfeeding baby with breakfast in bed, bountiful books, and...banana box in the bedroom. (Why?)

Just another day of work and wheelbarrow rides.

Just another jolly outdoor supper with joyful children. 

So many books we want Mama to read!!!

A child's bouquet all lit up.

The scariest Hulk yet intimidates us with his hot pepper hat.

Evenings are for listening to records.

 

This one's for you, Alaskan cousins.  We awoke to every window decorated with monsters put there by visiting nightime pranksters (who, I ask you, WHO?!)   Aidan was using the binoculars to look for his monster, and it was right behind his head.

 

Becky, this is for you.  The dress you gave Millie now fits Annika, and we found one for Susannah in a bag of hand-me-downs this summer.  Nearly twins.

One of the children had my camera and used it very well.

I drank my morning tea overlooking a road of yellow-brick-pillows leftover from the night before.  When I'm an old woman, if I make it that far, I will miss these morning views.

These snakes like to bite.  Ask us how we know.

Peter Pan and sleep but no pixie dust this time around.

The old "let's scrape bacteria off our cheek" experiment.

Back in September, Cadence impressed all the children by beginning to creepy-crawl.

Nut Berry and her darling.

Those who heard about the older ladies at the church rummage sale giving us 10 gallons of ice cream should appreciate the one picture I took of the children having a 5-minute free-for-all in lieu of their long-overdue lunch when we got home.  My little barbarians.